Nephon Sector
The Nephon sector, as far as its inhabitants know, is a relatively isolated section of space, describing a crescent that descends obliquely into the galactic plane. Through the sector there runs a major space-lane, converging from two separate outlets of the Hoked Nebula to the Toko system, and from there branching minus-X and plus X towards the Nago system at the extreme minus-X of the coordinate system, and a short terminus to the Newton system on the plus-X.
The Toko system is the only way in or out of the sector, as it is the only place with the sort of long-distance jump docks that inter-sector travel requires.
Life in the Nephon sector is difficult for most. The Toko government claims dominion over the entire sector, but has not the military might nor the unity to enforce it. In the inner systems, close to Toko, life is strictly regulated. On the outer systems, such as in Nago, or close to the Hoked Nebula, or in the remote tributary Rukku system, residents scrape together what life they can. Residents of the more remote systems are dependent upon the Ronin (literally: "wave person" thank you wikipedia), a class of person liberated by their owning/crewing a ship, for neccesities such as food, trade goods, and news.
Space Travel
The following is technobabble, and relates in no real way to enjoyment of the game:
Long-distance travel is done over the course of several weeks along "space lanes": corridors of active gases that act as conduits for charged particles. By deploying a "Noble Sail", a ship can harness these particles to enable tremedous acceleration. Travel between systems is a matter of days through a space lane, but could take weeks or months with conventional drives.
Though few in the Nephon Sector make use of them, Jump Docks enable much longer-distance travel, by creating a stabilized wormhole between two points.
Astronavigation is essentially a very difficult and complex physics problem; as such, navigators are well-versed, formally or otherwise, in both classical and quantum mechanics, mathematics, etc.
Law Enforcement
The Toko government makes an attempt to spread its culture and the "rule of law" to the outer systems, which, through greed and distance, see little of the prosperity that Toko's jump gates bring to the central systems. As such, 'lawmen' are dispatched to patrol the reaches, to see that those upholding the law and Toko culture are rewarded, and that those who flaunt them are punished. Their role is analagous to the Ronin, but from more of a state-sponsored angle. They are not always welcome, however.
Ronin
The counterpart to the Lawman, the Ronin is a "private" (though many are funded by regional governments) citizen who has a ship capable of inter-system travel. Distinct from professional cargo crews or militias, the Ronin is ostensibly a privateer, beholden to no particular system, government, or corporate interest.
Ronin are often relied upon to assist outlying systems in critical tasks, such as obtaining food or medicine, too critical to trust to the Toko central authority. They are also often called upon to complete illegal or dangerous acts. Since the life of a Ronin is one of constant struggle to upkeep their ship and maintain their tenuous freedom, many Ronin will take whatever job comes across their bow.
Topography
poorly-drawn map to come.
Systems
These are some of the systems in the Nephon Sector:
- Hoked Nebula - a mysterious and largely unexplored place
- Bluetree system - close to the Hoked Nebula, a rural outpost, populated largely by rais farmers and erstwhile explorers into the nebula
- Toko system - the nerve center of the Nephon sector, the Toko system is home to one habitable planet, Toko, and several colonized moons. Also present in the Toko system are the only Jump Docks in all the Nephon sector; access to these is strictly regulated by the Toko government.
- Newton system - close to the Toko system, Newton was originally colonized due to the presence of two promising Verdant planets, with the intention of using the bounty from these planets to feed Toko's packed metropolises.
